Decentralized Energy Optimization in Cloud Environments: A Systematic Review of Blockchain-Enabled Green Computing Approaches

Abstract

The incredible increase in the number of cloud computing infrastructure has increased the concern of the whole world on the usage of energy, carbon emission and efficiency in the operations of the data centers. Blockchain technology with its default features such as decentralization, immutability, transparency, and automated smart contracts can provide a new paradigm in the operation of the energy resources in the cloud environment. This literature review of blockchain-based energy management solutions in the cloud. In this research paper analyze and generalize academic papers written in 2020-2025 that concentrate on such grand themes as the smart contract-based optimization of energy resources, the effectiveness of consensus mechanisms, peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading, the integration of IoT and blockchain, and decentralized cloud resources management. The review identifies critical research gaps, unresolved issues, such as scalability, interoperability, latency, and regulatory compliance, and proposes one framework that can match blockchain potential with cloud energy management requirements. By using blockchain technology for energy management, energy costs in the cloud can be reduced by around 30-40%.